Miami Fans Stomp Hole In Orange Bowl

October 23, 1985|By Ken Paskman

Enthusiastic fans stomping their feet on the upper deck of the Orange Bowl to urge the Miami Dolphins on knocked a chunk of concrete loose and sent it plummeting toward other partisans below. No one was hurt, but city officials are checking to make sure it won't happen again. Structural engineers examined the entire 37-year-old upper deck on the north side of the Orange Bowl looking for trouble spots. Stadium manager Walter Golby said he hopes the accident involving a 6-inch-by-6-inch chunk of concrete is an isolated incident. ''I would say it's localized,'' Golby said. ''We're going to have the engineers check it and make a complete inspection of the upper deck to check any other weak areas that might be similar in nature. It may just be an isolated situation. I hope that is all it is,'' Golby said. The chunk of concrete fell on an aisle that was empty at the time. Cracks in the concrete extended for several seats on either side of the hole, and several seats were evacuated. ''We were pounding our feet, and all of a sudden, our feet went through,'' Rick Flinchum said. ''The people below were looking up to see what hit them.'' Dan Hatkowski was sitting two rows above Flinchum. ''All of a sudden, a couple people started jumping round and started screaming,'' Hatkowski said. ''I thought someone brought a snake in there. They put their feet through the floor. When you can see through the floor of a concrete stadium, you really get shook,'' Hatkowski said.